A Different Kind of Order: The I.C.P. Triennial

“A Different Kind of Order,” the fourth International Center of Photography triennial, which opens on May 17th, includes work by twenty-eight emerging and established artists. Curated by Kristen Lubben, Christopher Phillips, Carol Squiers, and Joanna Lehan, the show includes huge range of work in the photographic medium, from video, sculpture, and collage to straight photography and photograms. “If one looks back at ‘Strangers: The First I.C.P. Triennial,’ from 2003, the enormous changes that have taken place in our medium become apparent,” the curator Joanna Lehan told me. “Some segments of a traditional photography audience might feel threatened or dismissive of these changes, but I find it a revealing and deeply rewarding exercise to examine them every three years. One learns so much about what’s happening not only in our medium but also in culture at large.” Below is a small selection from the exhibit, followed by a Q. & A. with Lehan.

Click on the red arrows [#image: /photos/59096bf8019dfc3494ea17c9]for a full-screen view.

Nica Ross, a video still from WOAHMONE, a monthly party thrown by Ross, Nath Ann Carrera, and Savannah Knoop. New York, 2011. Courtesy the artist.

What is the origin of the title and how does it relate to the theme of this year’s triennial?

The title refers to the political and economic reordering we’ve witnessed all over the world in recent years, as well as the new technological order. When I joined the curatorial team, in June, the working title was “Chaos,” referring to global political upheaval, economic collapse, and the torrential flood of images uploaded to the Web on a daily basis. But we came to think that “A Different Kind of Order” is a more interesting way to frame the enormous changes in the world— and in the medium—that we’re currently experiencing.

There is a huge range of both artists and mediums in the show. How were the artists selected, and are they all photographers?

Most, if not all, of the artists in the show define themselves as photographers—or at least have at some point in their career. One of the things we’ve seen in recent years is the increasing propensity of many artists to move freely among media. As far as selection process, there is a research phase for over a year, and then the curators talk about what we’re seeing and try to articulate what’s interesting to us and why.

What are unifying characteristics of the artists in this year’s triennial?

Some are creating work that can be seen as reënvisioning community, some are interrogating the image, some are looking to the Internet or archives for source material of their work. For quite a few artists in the show, collaging elements is a big part of their practice. But there is no quality that characterizes all of the artists, aside from the fact that they are all alive and very active in their practice. The incredible diversity of work is part of what we want to show.

In considering so much work over the past three years, how would you describe the current state of the medium? Can you sense a distinct direction of the genre?

One thing that seems obvious but is actually quite a radical shift is that a lot of photographic media is no longer the result of an artist going out in the world and pointing a camera at something. I don’t think that will ever stop—nor should it, of course. But, more and more, we see artists trying to contend with images that already exist, either in archives or on the Internet—taking those images and transforming them in some way, or re-contextualizing or re-staging them. We’re all really trying to make sense of a time in history when we have more photographs than ever before.

Jessie Wender, formerly a photo editor at The New Yorker, is a senior photo editor at National Geographic.